Favorite Films of 1939
Updated: 06/20/2022
I have watched 35 films with a 1939 release date. I have listed them here ranked from best to worst (in my opinion).
I have watched 35 films with a 1939 release date. I have listed them here ranked from best to worst (in my opinion).
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35 titles
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsGreta GarboMelvyn DouglasIna ClaireA stern Soviet woman sent to Paris to supervise the sale of jewels seized from Russian nobles finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsMaureen O'HaraRobert NewtonCharles LaughtonIn Cornwall, 1819, a young woman discovers she's living near a gang of criminals who arrange shipwrecks for profit.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsBoris KarloffGrant WithersDorothy TreeDetective tries to solve the murder of antiques collector who was in possession of a famous jewel known as "The Eye of the Daughter of The Moon."
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneClaire TrevorAndy DevineA group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
- DirectorElliott NugentStarsBob HopePaulette GoddardJohn BealWhen an eccentric family meets in their uncle's remote, decaying mansion on the tenth anniversary of his death for the reading of his will, murder and madness follow.
- DirectorRowland V. LeeStarsBasil RathboneBoris KarloffBarbara O'NeilIn the 15th century Richard Duke of Gloucester, aided by his club-footed executioner Mord, eliminates those ahead of him in succession to the throne, then occupied by his brother King Edward IV of England. As each murder is accomplished he takes particular delight in removing small figurines, each resembling one of the successors, from a throne-room dollhouse, until he alone remains. After the death of Edward he becomes Richard III, King of England, and need only defeat the exiled Henry Tudor to retain power.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsCharles LaughtonMaureen O'HaraCedric HardwickeIn 15th-century France, a gypsy girl is framed for murder by the infatuated Chief Justice, and only the deformed bellringer of Notre Dame Cathedral can save her.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyJean ParkerOllie has fallen in love with the innkeeper's daughter in Paris. The only problem - she's very much in love with her husband. To forget her he joins the Foreign Legion with Stan. Bad idea.
- DirectorRowland V. LeeStarsBoris KarloffBasil RathboneBela LugosiReturning to the ancestral castle long after the death of the monster, the son of Dr. Frankenstein meets a mad shepherd who is hiding the comatose creature. To clear the family name, he revives the creature and tries to rehabilitate him.
- DirectorEdward SedgwickStarsRobert YoungMadge EvansNat PendletonPop Clark is about to lose his baseball team, unless they can win the pennant so he can pay off debts. He hires ace player Larry Evans to ensure the victory. As well as rival teams, mobsters are trying to prevent the wins, and as the pennant race nears the end, Pop's star players begin to be killed, on and off the field. Can Larry romance Pop's daughter, win enough games, and still have time to stop a murderer before he strikes more than three times?
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsBoris KarloffMarjorie ReynoldsGrant WithersA pretty Chinese woman, seeking help from San Francisco detective James Lee Wong, is killed by a poisoned dart in his front hall, having time only to scrawl "Captain J" on a sheet of paper. She proves to be Princess Lin Hwa.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsJames StewartJean ArthurClaude RainsA naive youth leader is appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. His idealistic plans promptly collide with corruption at home and subterfuge from his hero in Washington, but he tries to forge ahead despite attacks on his character.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyVirginia GreyAn explosives manufacturer suspects a young man is out to kill him. He calls in new parents Nick and Nora to sort things out.
- DirectorGarson KaninStarsGinger RogersDavid NivenCharles CoburnAn unemployed woman discovers an abandoned baby on the steps of an orphanage, and accepts an offer to take responsibility for the child in return for a job.
- DirectorEdward BuzzellStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxThe Marx Brothers try to help the owner of a circus recover some stolen funds before he finds himself out of a job.
- DirectorEdward BuzzellStarsEleanor PowellRobert YoungGeorge BurnsWanting a break from his overzealous fans, a famous movie star hires a Hawaiian plantation owner to switch places with him for a few weeks.
- DirectorFrank R. StrayerStarsPenny SingletonArthur LakeLarry SimmsBlondie and Dagwood are in charge of operations at a mountain motel. The elderly owners of the establishment are in danger of losing their life savings. Among other things, arson threatens.
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsChester MorrisLucille BallWendy BarrieA plane has engine trouble while flying over a jungle inhabited by cannibals.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandAnn SheridanA Texas cattle agent witnesses first hand, the brutal lawlessness of Dodge City and takes the job of sheriff to clean the town up.
- DirectorAllan DwanStarsThe Ritz BrothersJimmy RitzHarry RitzWhen a wealthy man is threatened by a killer known as The Gorilla, he hires the Ritz Brothers to investigate. A real escaped gorilla shows up at the mansion just as the investigators arrive.
- DirectorFrank R. StrayerStarsPenny SingletonArthur LakeLarry SimmsBlondie takes over Dagwood's job while he goes off on a fishing trip.
- DirectorFrank R. StrayerStarsPenny SingletonArthur LakeLarry SimmsA salesman convinces Blondie that Baby Dumpling is a budding genius, so the Bumsteads enroll him in a special school from which he disappears.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsClaudette ColbertJames StewartGuy KibbeeWhen a tycoon (Ernest Truex) is accused of murder, the private eye (James Stewart) tracking him finds himself roped in as an accessory and attempts to evade police, kidnapping a poetess (Claudette Colbert) along the way.
- DirectorWilliam ClemensStarsBoris KarloffNedda HarriganJames StephensonUnjustly condemned to Devil's Island and condemned to death, Dr. Gaudet's life is spared when his surgical skills save the life of the commandant's daughter.
- DirectorGeorge KingStarsTod SlaughterJohn WarwickAubrey MallalieuSet in France in 1880. A series of murders is attributed to a Wolf Man.
- DirectorRobert ClampettStarsMel BlancPinto ColvigPolice officer Porky is called to investigate strange noises at a house that might be haunted. Before he arrives, we tour the house and hear some evil-sounding cackles, which, it turns out, are coming from a radio one that a ghost was listening to. The ghost then sings the title song while getting ready for a night of haunting, just as Porky arrives. The ghost invites him in with a woman's voice, then disappears. Porky comes in and gets spooked by some flapping curtains. When he comes back in, the ghost puts a couple frogs into a pair of shoes and sets them loose; they collect a hatrack and a curtain, forming a sort of black ghost that ultimately scares Porky upstairs right into the arms of the ghost. He beats a hasty retreat...
- DirectorWalter SummersStarsBela LugosiHugh WilliamsGreta GyntInsurance agent-physician collects on policies of men murdered by a disfigured resident of the home for the blind where he acts as doctor-on-call.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsHumphrey BogartRosemary LaneWayne MorrisA hotshot reporter and a young doctor team up to investigate a series of grisly murders and a mysterious sample of synthetic blood.
- DirectorJames P. HoganStarsJohn HowardHeather AngelH.B. WarnerCaptain Drummond and his girlfriend want to marry but a hidden treasure in the house in which they want to celebrate their marriage is complicating the situation.
- DirectorFord BeebeSaul A. GoodkindStarsBela LugosiRobert KentDorothy ArnoldA military intelligence officer and a pretty reporter try to find a scientist whose inventions can destroy the world.
- DirectorGlenn TryonStarsLucille BallPatric KnowlesDonald WoodsDenny drops fiancée Jean and marries Flora who is worth ten million dollars. When Jean is fired from her job she decides to market the face cream she invented. She goes to Jeffrey and he sends a sample of the product to 12 selected rich women. Only one woman invests in the business and Jean is happy until she learns that it is Flora - but she takes the money. As Denny has no job, the girls give him an office at the factory. The business takes off, but Jean finds that she is still in love with Denny and Denny seems to forget he is married to Flora. So Jean and Flora send him to California for six weeks to open the West Coast branch of Jeanne Varelle.
- DirectorVictor FlemingGeorge CukorSam WoodStarsClark GableVivien LeighThomas MitchellA sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsRoy RogersLynne RobertsGeorge 'Gabby' HayesAmericans come West to California in the hope of peaceful settlement.
- DirectorHarold S. BucquetStarsLionel BarrymoreCedric HardwickeBeulah BondiA cantankerous old man takes in his beloved, orphaned grandson, whom he must protect at all costs with the help of an agent of Death and a magical apple tree.